First Russian art exhibition in Berlin 1922

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Title page to the exhibition catalog by El Lissitzky

The First Russian Art Exhibition in Berlin in 1922 took place in 1922 in the Galerie van Diemen & Co. in Berlin . Initially it had a wide echo, but has largely been forgotten since the early 1930s. With the reassessment of the Russian part in the development of modern art, however, the interest in this event, which was of fundamental importance not least for the spread of constructivism , has steadily increased and its former existence has almost become a legend. There is no doubt that it will henceforth retain its permanent place in the history of modern art.

preparation

Beginning of 1922 was the People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky to David Shterenberg , the Petrograd headquarters of the cultural department of Narkompros "to organize an exhibition of paintings by Russian artists in Berlin and to assume their overall management" led (People's Commissariat of Education), was commissioned. The preparation “was also facilitated by the fact that representatives of the Berlin company van Diemen came to Moscow during the period mentioned. The company operated art trading and organized exhibitions. She made the exhibition space available on extremely favorable terms, and that apparently played a decisive role in the People's Commissariat accepting this invitation. "

opening

At the opening on October 15, 1922, a Sunday, in addition to the organizers from the Russian Commissariat for Popular Education and Art, together with the Committee for Organizing Workers Aid for the Hungry in Russia, participating artists and curious people from parts of the Russian colony of Berlin also took part High-ranking officials from both countries participated, including the German Reichskunstwart Edwin Redslob .

exhibition

The exhibition was shown in Berlin, Unter den Linden 21, in the rooms of the Galerie van Diemen. It was originally supposed to last a month but was extended until the end of the year. This was not only the first presentation of Russian art in western Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, but also an early climax of Soviet foreign cultural policy.

Adolf Behne hailed it as “the boldest and most productive artistic exhibition that Berlin has seen in a long time”, while Paul Westheim's conclusion was nonetheless : “[…] one of the most interesting art balances that we have been given for years. "

During its ten-week period in Berlin, the exhibition is said to have attracted around 15,000 visitors, which was a considerable success for the time and underlined its attractiveness to the art world.

“Originally the exhibition was supposed to travel through several European capitals and to New York. Despite great efforts, the French government refused permission for this, and so the exhibition was only shown in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam from April 29 to May 28, 1923. El Lissitzky and the Dutchman Peter Alma, who worked in Berlin, organized the takeover and installation there. The organizers in Amsterdam were again the Commissariat for Art and Science (Sterenberg) and the Algemeen Comite voor Economischen Opbouw van Rusland. "

Exhibition catalog

The 31-page catalog, the cover of which was designed by El Lissitzky , contains a twelve-page foreword in three parts , the authors of which are David Sterenberg "on behalf of the People's Commissariat for Art and Science", Reichskunstwart Redslob and the writer A. Holitscher .

Among other things, Redslob stated:

“Home and the present can be recognized as the two poles that decisively determine today's art life - in addition, they determine the peculiar form of a European union that is preparing. The old longing of Russia for Europe, in which there is so much faith, devotion and - for us other peoples - also obligation, is struggling to be fulfilled. <...> Because exchange, mutual penetration into the individual character and joyful recognition of the other: these are the foundations of the Europe of the spirits, for which we struggle. "

In the five-page section To introduce an unnamed author, individual art movements with selected artists were named, followed by a list of the works on display and a section of images with 45 black-and-white image pages containing photos of 48 sculptures and paintings as well as some porcelains.

The introduction to the catalog provides conclusive information about the structure of the material of the exhibited artists according to development phases, directions, schools, groups and genres. This essentially style-chronological division was probably followed when setting up the exhibition. The works of the older generation of artists were exhibited on the ground floor of the gallery and those of the avant-garde, which comprised around a third of the entire material and made up what was actually spectacular about the show, on the first floor.

From the group of Peredwischniki ( Russian Передвижники ) Viktor Wasnezow and Abram Archipow were highlighted, but also Ossip Bras , who was represented by delicate gray still lifes, as well as Mikhail Shemjakin and Dmitri Shcherbinovsky with landscapes reminiscent of the school of Isaac Levitan , as well as other representatives .

Konstantin Korowin , one of the most popular Impressionist painters in Russia, showed atmospheric landscapes with delicate, dreaming female figures flooded with light. The Impressionism has never adopted such an extent as in Central Europe in Russia and is comfortable with the name of Alexander Gausch , Stanislav Zhukovsky (Żukowski) and Konstantin Juon exhausted.

Boris Kustodijew: wife of the merchant (1912) - in the catalog: woman at the samovar
Abram Archipow: Peasant Woman (before 1922)
Vladimir Baranov-Rossiné: pink color (before 1922)
Pavel Filonov: Composition (1919)
Kasimir Malewitsch: Suprematism (1916) - is shown rotated by 180 ° in the catalog
El Lissitzky: City (1920 or 1921)

Another group Mir Iskusstva was represented mainly by Boris Kustodijew . In addition, fine drawings and decorations by Alexander Benois and Mstislaw Dobuschinski were shown.

The group of boys of diamonds ( Russian Бубно́вый вале́т ) exhibited Pyotr Konchalovsky and Aristarch Lentulow with landscapes and female figures as Russian representatives of the school of Cézanne , as well as Vasily Roschdestwenski and Robert Falk , the latter with two finely painted, well-colored portraits of girls. These two artists were already approaching Cubism in one aspect of their work , and their representatives included Alexander Kuprin , Nadezhda Udalzowa , Ivan Puni and a number of young painters.

Russian Cubism developed independently and found its expression in the fact that the painters did not stick to one scheme. The works of Varvara Stepanova , Wladimir Baranow-Rossiné , Pawel Filonow and Natan Altman could be seen as a transition stage from cubist to non-representational painting, which turns away from the phenomena of the visible world . The latter artists were difficult to bring into the framework of one of the schools represented at the exhibition.

As a representative of Expressionism were Dawid Burljuk and Marc Chagall seen as young artists like Martiros Saryan , Alexander Ivanov, for, Pain and other primitivism included.

They were followed by representatives of Suprematism , especially in the pictures of Kasimir Malewitsch , but also Olga Rosanova , Lyubow Popova , El Lissitzky , as well as some works by Alexander Rodchenko . Her pictures are based on the rhythm of abstract surfaces which, according to the theory of the Suprematists, have precise laws from which the great movement of non-representational art developed. Another representative of constructivism must also be mentioned Vladimir Tatlin , who was the first in Russia to depict the so-called Contre-Relief , which, created from the surface, realizes real fabrics in space.

Parallel to the constructivists stands the sculptor Naum Gabo , whose works revolutionize sculpture as such by the fact that they are no longer plastic than mass , but constructions.

The works of the state porcelain and engraving stone factory were also of great interest as attempts at a production work that is connected with art.

The theater department showed the work of some painters, such as the sketch by Georgi Jakulow for the Brambilla von Hoffmann , which was performed in the Moscow Chamber Theater. Yakulov was the first to constructively treat theater decorations together with Tatlin.

In the exhibition there were also some posters showing on a small scale how Russian painters work.

Of course, all these artists only roughly belong to the groups mentioned. At that time they were more closely connected to one another, as their exhibited works testified.

Directory and illustrations

The directory of the exhibition catalog lists the artists separately according to categories: paintings, watercolors, drawings, wood and linoleum cuts, copper prints, posters, architectural and theater designs, sculptures, porcelain / glass / decorative works / semi-precious stones.

The catalog also contains images of the following exhibited works by the represented artists (names in current transcription):

Other exhibited artists

literature

  • Eberhard Roters (ed.): First Russian art exhibition: Berlin 1922. Galerie van Diemen & Co., Berlin 1922, reprint König, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-88375-085-9 (commented by Horst Richter).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christina Lodder: Russian Constructivism. New Haven / London 1983, p. 233.
  2. ^ Krisztina Passuth : Berlin - center of the art of Eastern Europe. In: Paris - Berlin 1900–1933. Munich 1979, pp. 222-231.
  3. ↑ "The Galerie van Diemen is part of the most successful German art trade group. Its founder Albert Loeske (1869–1929), originally from the watch and jewelery industry, built up the silver department store Markgraf & Co around 1909 together with Jakob Oppenheimer. The success was not long in coming and further company financing followed. In 1922 the Galerie van Diemen opened a modern department with what is now a legendary exhibition. ”Verena Tafel: The art trade in Berlin before 1945. In: Art concentrated. Berlin 1987, p. 215.
  4. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Drengenberg: Politics against the fine arts. In: Oskar Anweiler , Karl-Heinz Ruffmann : Cultural Policy of the Soviet Union (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 429). Kröner, Stuttgart 1973, ISBN 3-520-42901-2 , p. 259.
  5. ^ Adolf Behne: Presentation and Reality. In: Kellers / Karolewski / Siebert. P. 73.
  6. ^ The exhibition of the Russians. In: The art paper. Issue 11. Berlin 1922, p. 493.
  7. ↑ The German weekly newspaper for the Netherlands and Belgium from May 12, 1923, according to Peter Alma gave a speech at the opening.
  8. ^ Front page of the exhibition catalog , designed by El Lissitzky, on openlibrary.org
  9. ^ Galerie van Diemen: First Russian Art Exhibition , Berlin, 1922 Publisher: König (Cologne), 1988 31 pages ISBN 3-88375-082-4
  10. ^ A b Max Osborn : Russian Art Exhibition. In: Vossische Zeitung , Berlin October 16, 1922 (evening edition), p. 2, accessed on June 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ a b c d John Schikowski : Russian art. In: Vorwärts , Berlin October 19, 1922 (evening edition), p. 2, accessed on June 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ Details on photography in Willy Römer (1887 - 1979) , on sammlung-online.berlinischegalerie.de